Rod Owen

Roderick Owen (born 31 January 1967) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with St Kilda, Melbourne and the Brisbane Bears in the Victorian/Australian Football League (VFL/AFL).

Rod Owen
Personal information
Full name Roderick Owen
Date of birth (1967-01-31) 31 January 1967
Original team(s) Mentone Grammar
Height 185 cm (6 ft 1 in)
Weight 87 kg (192 lb)
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1983–1990 St Kilda 60 (103)
1991 Melbourne 09 0(19)
1992 Brisbane Bears 09 0(21)
1995 Sorrento, Victoria 3 (unknown)
Total 81 (143)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 1992.
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Owen, who had only recently turned 16 when he made his league debut for St Kilda in 1983 against North Melbourne at Arden St Oval, suffered from various injuries early in his career and missed the entire 1985 VFL season.[1] Owen had to wait until his 17th game, in 1986, to experience a win, with St Kilda having lost the previous 16 games he had played in. A Mentone Grammar recruit, Owen kicked a career high 39 goals in 1987, the second most by a St Kilda player that year behind Tony Lockett.

After leaving St Kilda in 1990 Owen played out the season at Victorian Football Association (VFA) club Frankston, and was then traded to Melbourne for Stephen Newport. He kicked two bags of five goals for Melbourne in 1991, against Carlton and North Melbourne.[2] After just one year at Melbourne he was traded to Brisbane for the 1992 AFL season. Owen had a particularly strong game against Fitzroy at Princes Park when he kicked eight goals and six behinds, a club record against the Lions.

Once he finished in the AFL, Owen played for Northern Territory Football League (NTFL) side Wanderers Football Club, where he was club leading goalkicker in the 1994/95 season with 39 goals,[3] also at Broadbeach Cats Cairns, Noosa Tigers and Cheltenham Football Clubs.

Personal life

As a child in the 1970s, Owen attended Beaumaris Primary School, where he was one of a number of children to have been sexually assaulted by the school's librarian and sports coach, Darrell Ray. Trauma from this events, combined with the party culture at St Kilda in the 1980s, led to a decades-long battle with addiction to amphetamine and pain killers.[4] In December 2000, Owen was sentenced to nine months in prison for assault, which he served at Dhurringile prison farm.[5] Owen entered rehabilitation for his substance abuse issues in 2018, and has discussed his experiences with the media since the allegations against Ray from his time at Beaumaris PS become public in around 2020.

In later years Owen has worked as a concreter and boxer. In 2021, he received a written apology from the St Kilda FC relating to a lack of support for his personal issues during his time at the club. He has also pledged his brain to the Australian Sports Brain Bank for post-mortem research.[6]

References
  1. Holmesby, Russell; Main, Jim (2007). The Encyclopedia of AFL Footballers. BAS Publishing. ISBN 978-1-920910-78-5.
  2. "Rod Owen". AFL Tables.
  3. Lee & Barfoot, p. 34.
  4. "Addiction almost killed AFL star Rod Owen, but he was hiding the agony of abuse". ABC News. 3 April 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  5. "What drives our AFL heroes to become bad boys?". Herald Sun. Melbourne, Victoria. 11 September 2013. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
  6. "Addiction almost killed AFL star Rod Owen, but he was hiding the agony of abuse". ABC News. 3 April 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2023.


Sources
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